Is it worth building PC yourself nowadays?

[Karjalan]

Please tell me you didn't just put your old hard drive into your new PC without reinstalling windows (or linux w/e) on it?

You know that different PC's need different drivers for components right?

>.>...

yes

Reinstalled windows 20 odd times, I don't mean THEE EXACT same, another copy of the same one...

[racerbilen]

I would say it's still 'worth' it, i currently work in a computer store and imo this is the main argument to sell a own-built pc.

If you buy a 'branded" computer such as HP, Compaq o Fujitsu-siemens and something happends to it (component crash etc) most of the stores will have to send the whole package to a workshop that will repair it for a warranty issue. So they will change the damaged component and send it back. Which means you will have to leave your computer to the store for about 1-6 weeks which really sucks.

If you build your own pc you can really choose your components which means a whole better computer. And if something happends to for example your motherboard you usually will get a new one on the spot.

[bver]

If your using vista....you lose...and if your using 32bit xp, your not taking a performance hit, your just not putting use to all 4, only 3.2 none the less, runs good, and is more reliable then all the bugs with vista.

Yes you are taking a performance hit by running 32 bit OS and 4GB of memory. There are memory addresses over ~3.6GB that it cant account for, and thus is takes extra clock cycles to figure out where you can store information. Vista is better because of its Kernel design, do some research before you guys post nonsense :P

[gulkeeva]

hmmm I'm wondering what kinda rig you'd need to fraps record 25man raid fights at atleast or very close to 30fps with max settings.

atm running
Gigabyte P35-S3G
Core 2 Duo E6850 3ghz at 3.5ghz (sounblaster FX sounds strange any higher)
2gb DDR2 dual channel 800mhz (Oc'ed to like 916? ish)
8800 GTS

can do (only recent experiment with setup) 23-34FPS on Gurtogg Bloodboil
with like no shadows, minimum ground crap + less ground crap
2X antialiasing(sp)
most other settings on or high (like spell detail)

[chaud]

hmmm I'm wondering what kinda rig you'd need to fraps record 25man raid fights at atleast or very close to 30fps with max settings.

atm running
Gigabyte P35-S3G
Core 2 Duo E6850 3ghz at 3.5ghz (sounblaster FX sounds strange any higher)
2gb DDR2 dual channel 800mhz (Oc'ed to like 916? ish)
8800 GTS

can do (only recent experiment with setup) 23-34FPS on Gurtogg Bloodboil
with like no shadows, minimum ground crap + less ground crap
2X antialiasing(sp)
most other settings on or high (like spell detail)

Turn off AA and full screen glow, defrag hard drive or use a different one and try again?

[PvE_Mage]

I would say it's still 'worth' it, i currently work in a computer store and imo this is the main argument to sell a own-built pc.

If you buy a 'branded" computer such as HP, Compaq o Fujitsu-siemens and something happends to it (component crash etc) most of the stores will have to send the whole package to a workshop that will repair it for a warranty issue. So they will change the damaged component and send it back. Which means you will have to leave your computer to the store for about 1-6 weeks which really sucks.

If you build your own pc you can really choose your components which means a whole better computer. And if something happends to for example your motherboard you usually will get a new one on the spot.

EXACTLY!!

Also, those bastardized PCs that they sell are like a fucking mess inside... barely accessible, barely upgradeable. It's even a biatch to clean fans. I'd NEVER buy a PC from HP/Dell/etc.

these day's it's so easy to just plug stuff together. In comparison, 10 years ago it was very techy.

[gulkeeva]

EXACTLY!!

Also, those bastardized PCs that they sell are like a fucking mess inside... barely accessible, barely upgradeable. It's even a biatch to clean fans. I'd NEVER buy a PC from HP/Dell/etc.

these day's it's so easy to just plug stuff together. In comparison, 10 years ago it was very techy.

The inside of my pc (I prebuilt) looks pretty crazy too, you prety much can't see anything cept the cpu fan and a snake of black snake like cabling using APEVIA ATX-AS680W-BK ATX12V.

and for the post to reply to my comment I was looking for ways to inprove overall fps while keeping quality high-ish not lower it :P Was thinking of maybe getting a 9800GX2 since my board can't do SLI, but was wonderinf jsut how much thad actually inprove wow performance ;/

[shadowflame]

Any of you who actually have experience with SLI or know about it..I'm thinking about getting 2x8800GT and SLI it or should i get 9800 GTX ?

Also what PSU should i get..There are so many out there and quite a bit of them cost ridiculous amount of cash..(eg. $250+) Wonder who even buys them.. ><

[alj]

I dont want to sound cocky, but: Most of the answers in this thread are wildly incorrect. There is alot of "not-knowing-a-thingy-just-wildly-guessing posts" here.

Now, over to the Wizzard's POV:
I just purchased 2x Fully updated computers for 2800$ - Which is cheap.

Its as following:

Computer A -
Intel Core2Duo E8500 (King of the CPU's)
Crucial 1033mhz 1gb x4 RAM
Ati Radeon 3870 GFX card.
Gigabyte GA-P35 motherboard
600Watts OCZ PSU.
Gigabyte GZ-X5 Tower.
Took a 320gb HD from one of my old computers.
(+MS intelli 3.0 and a 19'' Wide-screen (650$))

1600$ which is extremly cheap (Remove the 650$ you got one heck of a puppy for almost nothing.)

The second computer I bought was about the same;
Intel Core2Duo E8500 6MB cache aswell
4x Crucial 1033mhz ram
Gigabyte GA-P35
and 600w PSU
and a 320 SATA 3,5''
+ 22'' widescreen.
= 1500~

Everything handpicked and installed by myself. - INSTALL THE HARDWARE YOURSELF! Do not waste 140$ on letting the store do it..

This is quite cheap, handling Crysis on high on boh PC's
(Havent tried very high because I still run XP ) with 50 FPS stabile.

The motherboard is a bit cheap, but it's EXTREMLY good for such a low price - I strongly recommend it. Overclocker or not.

I also have 4x Copper RAM-chip coolers, with an 120mm fan blowing on them, a 120mm fan (extra) g-power fan for the cpu (The cpu reached 27 degrees celsius at max when playing crysis like nuts) and I also have a zalman VGA heatsink body and a 80mm fan for my gfx card, which layes around 70 degrees celsius whilst playing one of the "sicker" games.

I hope this helped some!

And about the question about SLI -
First off all: Do not waste money on investing in 2x Geforce cards, rather go buy 2x ATI cards and use crossfire - Crossfire is cheaper, faster, less cpu-dependent and also generates alot less heat.
And you probably need a 800 PSU for any sort of sli or crossfire without a doubt (GFX cards these days usually use around 250Watts ALONE.)

Edit: And I forgot to add, that while playing WoW I idle with around 175 fps (Useless, but true.) Any 25 man instance is smooth even with a huge amount of AddOns.

Yours truely,
Alex

[chaud]

(+MS intelli 3.0 and a 19'' Wide-screen (650$))

You got ripped off then. I got a decent 22in LCD for $200.

[alj]

You got ripped off then. I got a decent 22in LCD for $200.

Ah, what I said is actually incorrect. The 19'' widescreen only cost me around 400$(w/ mouse) - Newst samsung 2ms 1:6000 screen. Imbalicious. You dont get screens for 200$ that has that

[chaud]

Ah, what I said is actually incorrect. The 19'' widescreen only cost me around 400$(w/ mouse) - Newst samsung 2ms 1:6000 screen. Imbalicious. You dont get screens for 200$ that has that

Of course not. Mine is only 2500:1 and 5ms, but for $200 less I get 3 more inches and realistically I doubt I could see much, if any, difference.

[xebtria]

just built up my own new pc, going to order it the next few days...

Intel E8400 Tray - 176 € (1-2% slower than 8500, but much, much cheaper :>)
Gigabyte DS3 Motherboard - 76€
8 GB Corsair Twin2x 6400/800 RAM - 144 €
GeForce 9800 GTX - 240 €
BeQuiet 400W Power Supply - 47 €
Coolermaster Case - 40 €
Xigmatec CPU Cooler - 30 €
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 750 GB HDD - 110€
Vista Home Premium German - 70 €
Floppy, DVDROM, DVDRW, 7in1-Cardreader - 50€
Hardware installation done by shop - 20€

alltogether: ~1016€. don't know the exact price. calculated to $$$ this is ~1600$ actually, i dont know how much the price of pc-hardware in USA compared to german prices is... but nevertheless... you get for this money a machine directly from hell, you will have this for at least 3 years, if not even 5. and if you buy a pre-configured pc from your next supermarket... you will pay, i think, at least twice the price... so: yes, it is worth building a PC by yourself. and the installation of the hardware is not that expensive. 20€ / 31$ is not really much for a 1000€/1600$ PC.

so long
xeb

[chaud]

I don't think even a 9800 will last you 5 years. I bought a 6600 when they were okay for $130? on sale, and it is trash today. This was only in 2005? or so.

[alj]

just built up my own new pc, going to order it the next few days...

Intel E8400 Tray - 176 € (1-2% slower than 8500, but much, much cheaper :>)
Gigabyte DS3 Motherboard - 76€
8 GB Corsair Twin2x 6400/800 RAM - 144 €
GeForce 9800 GTX - 240 €
BeQuiet 400W Power Supply - 47 €
Coolermaster Case - 40 €
Xigmatec CPU Cooler - 30 €
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 750 GB HDD - 110€
Vista Home Premium German - 70 €
Floppy, DVDROM, DVDRW, 7in1-Cardreader - 50€
Hardware installation done by shop - 20€

alltogether: ~1016€. don't know the exact price. calculated to $$$ this is ~1600$ actually, i dont know how much the price of pc-hardware in USA compared to german prices is... but nevertheless... you get for this money a machine directly from hell, you will have this for at least 3 years, if not even 5. and if you buy a pre-configured pc from your next supermarket... you will pay, i think, at least twice the price... so: yes, it is worth building a PC by yourself. and the installation of the hardware is not that expensive. 20€ / 31$ is not really much for a 1000€/1600$ PC.

so long
xeb

I can tell right now that your system will suffer from unstability! 400watts just aint enough for that. You're gonna have alot of overheating or alot of stuff not working properly. Like your ethernetcard going down in the middle of raiding (Maybe.)
550w is about the minimum requirements these days, and I wouldnt go a watt lower.

And the computer is very good, indeed. But it's gonna be outdated in one year, but then again: Hardware is extremly cheap.

[BulF]

Definetly Yes!

I build my own one a couple of months back and its amazing the amount of money that you save.

Intel core quad
8gb ddr2 800 OCZ
8800gt 512mb
Asus p5k-e Wifi
Dual raptors 10000 rpm
Normal Hdd 500gb
Coolermaster
700w gamer OCZ
Acer 24"

I paid less than £1000 (about 1300 euros)

And I had a look in a few pages that prepare gaming pc's, and the same pieces would have cost me
around £1500~£1800, so Yeah! Find out what do you want and build it yourself, is the best you can do.

All Wow settings at max! and 1900x1200 resolution.
FPS 50~60 Always! Shattrath included.

[Uzm]

I would say definitely YES, since you can upgrade your parts much more easier, than on a self-builded PC. There are a few more major factors that makes self-builded PC's better, but the one i mentioned is a HUGE plus.

[joetest]

I don't think even a 9800 will last you 5 years. I bought a 6600 when they were okay for $130? on sale, and it is trash today. This was only in 2005? or so.

Well considering 'bleeding edge' only really lasts 4-5 years solidly that makes sense... you bought a mid-high range card that was on sale and it only lasted you 3 years? What's the surprise in that?

I bought the x850 xt pt the day it came out, which was pushing 4-5 years now and it's basically on death's doorstep now.